Five Sources About C14 Dating - Annotated Bibliography Example

Annotated Bibliography of Five Sources About C14 Dating Annotated Bibliography Brock, F., T. Higham and C. Bronk Ramsey. “Pre-screening techniques for identification of samples suitable for radiocarbon dating of poorly preserved bones”. Journal of Archaeological Science 37/Elsevier. 2010. The research seeks to determine what kind of criteria can apply to screen bones taken from archaeological sites and which are in a poor state of preservation, with regard to their suitability for carbon dating. The research looks at collagen content in the collected bones, and comes up with minimum levels of preserved collagen as a sound criterion for gauging whether the bones are any good for carbon dating, or will yield good results when subjected to carbon dating processes. The work addresses the question of the effectivity of carbon dating and the limits of the effectivity of the method versus the kinds and quality of the samples for which the methods are used. The thesis of the research is that in many cases, poorly preserved bones do not lend themselves well to carbon dating processes, owing to the poor state of the preservation of the collagen that is the main material used for carbon dating. There has to be collagen greater than one percent for the bone samples to lend themselves well to being analyzed with carbon dating techniques. The study experimented with various physical characteristics of the bone samples and correlated those with collagen content in order to determine whether there were physical characteristics in chemical analyses that could be used as markers to screen which bone samples will yield good results when subjected to carbon dating. Nitrogen content was found to be one such marker, at 84 percent correlating with a good bone sample and adequate collagen content for carbon dating purposes. This research is relevant to my paper because it helps answer the question of how useful carbon dating is in research and what affects the accuracy of its results. Characterizing the samples for suitability is one way the research helps my research on the topic (Brock, Higham and Ramsey). I find the work straightforward and focused on what it wanted to accomplish. The analysis is insightful and innovative, in that it sought to find reliable, easy to find and shortcut markers or flags to screen good bones from bad bones as far as carbon dating such samples is concerned. The research findings implicitly also define the bounds of effectivity of carbon dating as a tool for research. Those bounds in this case relate to the suitability of the samples, and the presence of substances, in this case collagen, in sufficient amounts for carbon dating to be successful. It is not at all difficult to read, but straightforward and very interesting (Brock, Higham and Ramsey). 2. Nakamura, Toshio et al. “Radiocarbon dating of charred human bone remains in preserved urns excavated from medieval Buddhist cemetery in Japan”. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B. 268 (2010)/Elsevier. 2010. The research is about dating charred human bone remains in a cemetery in Japan, where the charred remains were sourced from several urns for the purpose, and mixed with fragments of wood-charcoal that were charred with the bones during the cremation process. The idea was to test the accuracy of radiocarbon dating methods for such samples, versus known site archaeological ages via so-called analyses based on typology. The work addresses the question of the limits of the usability and effectiveness of carbon dating techniques, where the samples are as presented from the urns. The work shows that carbon dating is effective for such purposes and for such samples, and yields results that match the estimates from analyses based on typology. The authors made use of comparative methods of age estimation in order to gauge the effectiveness of carbon dating, while at the same time referring to secondary research work from other sources to bolster the academic underpinning of the research. This source is relevant in that it helps answer my research question. This question relates how useful carbon dating is, and what the limits of its usefulness are (Nakamura et al.).. My experience with the work was, while the research question was straightforward, the value lay in the science that was presented with regard to characterizing the bone samples from the charred remains, and differentiating those with the charred wood that was also mixed in with the bone remains found in the urns. It is this characterization that yielded many insights into the kinds of technical analyses that go into preparing the samples for carbon dating. The preparation and qualification of the samples is what makes the work difficult, even as the carbon dating techniques themselves are straightforward. This is a mine of insight into the usefulness of carbon dating in general, and what the limits of that usefulness are. The techniques are only as good as the samples that are used, how they are prepared and how they are analyzed (Nakamura et al.) 3. Friedrich, Michael et al. “Paleo-environment and radiocarbon calibration as derived from Lateglacial/Early Holocene tree-ring chronologies”. Quaternary International 61 (1999). 1999. The research is about determining the value of tree-ring chronologies for the Preboreal Pine Tree and the Hohenheim oak, designated by PPC and HOC respectively, in calibrating radiocarbon dating-determined scales of time in different archaeological sites. Within sites, the research has proven effective for such calibration purposes, and the effectiveness has been found to extend across different archaeological and geological sites as well, as typified by its effectiveness in calibrating Holocene pine trees in one setting with Greenland ice cores in another setting. The examples help bolster the thesis on the effectiveness of PPC and HOC for such carbon dating calibration purposes, and on the use of tree-ring topologies to accurately describe the ages of oak tree samples in conjunction with carbon dating techniques. The study made use of historical data collated for one geological site over a period of more than thirty years, with the analytical results compared to results of analyses for various other sites, as presented in the literature. This source has some relevance to the paper, with regard to how effective and useful carbon dating is, and with regard to how tree ring calibration works. This paper helps my research by substantiating the methods as they are applied to real-life settings. I find the data collection and the subsequent analysis to be rigorous and fascinating, especially with regard to the uses of HOC and PPC for tree ring calibration and eventual determination of the ages of the locations studied. The technical nature of the paper made it difficult to read, but there were enough cues in terms of the graphics and the discussion to follow what was going on, and what the paper was trying to convey in general. 4. Rieth, Timothy et al. “The 13th century polynesian colonization of Hawaii Island”. Journal of Archaeological Science 38 (2011)/Elsevier. 2011. The research has to do with making use of 926 different gathered radiocarbon dates for the entire island of Hawaii, grading the different procured dates for precision, reliability as well as accuracy, to be able to come up with an estimate on the time period of the islands colonization by Polynesia that can be relied on to be accurate and reliable/ The discussion in the research is partly about finding out the criteria used for grading the procured radiocarbon dates and how they were applied for the researchs purposes, which was the corroboration of determined dates for the historical Polynesian colonization of the islands with dates derived from the scientific dating of radiocarbon samples procured from different locations throughout the island. The thesis is that these dating methods are accurate and reliable, and place the colonization by Polynesia of Hawaii at a period that was four and a half centuries later in comparison to what the accepted dates are in historical narratives. On the other hand, the conclusion coincides with what the new research is finding out about the timing of the colonization of East Polynesias remote parts. The sources used are mainly the gathered radiocarbon dates throughout the island, and this is the focal point of the ensuing analysis, while additional data was also gathered from secondary sources by way of comparing the results and insights from the current study with the results from the secondary research. The paper stretches the discussion on the usefulness of carbon dating, by extending the use cases for such dating, and extending where and how carbon dating is effective, in this case providing reliable timing data on historical events. This helps substantiate the answers to the research question on the limits of the uses of radiocarbon dating in various disciplines (Rieth et al.). I find the research to be fascinating and easy to follow. It strikes me that a rigorous application of the science of carbon dating can yield reliable and profound insights into human history, by for example pegging with some accuracy and reliability the timing of historical events that have otherwise very little documentation and physical social and historical artifacts. The paper is straightforward and easy to read and understand, even as its insights into Hawaiian history is profound (Rieth et al.) 5. Olsen, Jesper et al. “Old wood effect in radiocarbon dating of prehistoric cremated bones? Journal of Archaeological Science 40 (2013)/Elsevier. 2013 There are problems with carbon dating prehistoric bones that have been cremated for archaeological purposes, and the research is about exploring what those problems are, and what issues they introduce with regard to the reliability and the accuracy of the results of carbon dating such samples. The research addresses the question of just how cremated bone samples ought to be treated with regard to interpreting the results of carbon dating them, with reference to the possible use of the old wood effect to explain discrepancies and anomalies in the results interpretation, versus the circumstances of the cremation process, for instance what the atmosphere for the cremation combustion was. The paper posits the thesis that such combustion atmosphere has an effect on what we later observe in the carbon dates gathered, because they affect the carbon that is sourced in the bones that have been cremated. There are discrepancies for instance between dating oak coffins and the cremated bones contained in them, and those differences can be attributed to what the authors claim to be the old wood effect. The methodology used is straightforward, and required actually dating some prehistoric cremated samples of bone, prepared following a process, while the comparison relied on a review of related literature on bone samples unearthed with their oak coffins and similarly carbon dated. This paper again is very relevant in terms of defining the uses and bounds of carbon dating in archeology and related disciplines. The study will help the research and analysis by providing another concrete example of the importance of careful consideration of the samples to be carbon dated and a careful study of the background of the samples to be able to understand how the process has come up with the date estimates and what the figures actually mean. The proper understanding of the samples provide the context for the proper application of appropriate carbon dating techniques and the interpretation of the data (Olsen et al.). My experience with the source was enlightening and instructive with regard to just how the nature of the samples, in this case prehistoric cremated bones, alters the interpretation of the carbon dating results, and paves the way for me wanting to better understand the link between sample and the proper interpretation of the results. It shows me that carbon dating occurs in context, and that context includes what the sample is, and what its history and characteristics are (Olsen et al.) Read More